PhD project: Using Disorder to Protect Quantum Information
Project description
Left to their own devices, almost all physical systems will relax towards an equilibrium state with their environment. Think of an ice cube melting in a drink, for example, or a cup of coffee cooling to room temperature: in general, any physical system prepared in an out-of-equilibrium configuration will not stay that way for long. If we want to store information in a physical system - a message, say, or the result of a calculation - we need to encode that information in something that will not undergo this process. For example, a message scratched in the surface of an ice cube is unlikely to last long enough to be read by your intended recipient.
A similar process happens in quantum systems, but often far more rapidly. In short, this process of equilibration -- or thermalisation -- is information loss. For any quantum technologies which rely upon the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information, this must be prevented.
Perhaps counter-intuitively, it turns out that disorder – for example, in the form of chemical impurities or random magnetic fields – may be able to protect information by preventing thermalisation in complex quantum systems. This is known as localisation. However, our understanding of how disorder affects the properties of quantum matter remains incomplete, mainly due to the enormous computational complexity of simulating disordered, interacting quantum particles far from thermal equilibrium.
In this project, you will make use of newly developed numerical tools to investigate the fate of many-body localisation (MBL) in strongly interacting quantum systems subject to various forms of disorder. You will develop and use cutting-edge computational techniques -- both classical and quantum -- to test the stability of MBL in various contexts important to future quantum technologies, particularly in the highly challenging case of two-dimensional quantum systems, and possibly even in the as-yet-unexplored regime of three dimensions. Through this, you will investigate important fundamental aspects of thermalisation and equilibration in many-body quantum systems, and aid in the design of novel ways to stabilise future quantum technologies.
Project supervisor
- Dr Steven Thomson (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
The project supervisor welcomes informal enquiries about this project.
Find out more about this research area
The links below summarise our research in the area(s) relevant to this project:
- Find out more about Statistical Physics and Complexity.
- Find out more about the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems.
What next?
- Find out how to apply for our PhD degrees.
- Find out about fees and funding and studentship opportunities.
- View and complete the application form (on the main University website).
- Find out how to contact us for more information.